Tag Archives: water filter straw

This week, in honor of #charitytuesday, we have chosen to feature Water is Life. I wrote a brief summary of their work in our Water Charities List, but we felt like this was such a unique cause that they deserved a bigger spotlight.

Water is Life has developed a filtration technology that filters dirty water through a straw in three stages. When the straw is immersed in water (like a normal drinking straw), it filters particles, membranes and molecules in the first chamber. Then as the water is sipped through the remaining chambers, an iodine filtration system eliminates disease, and charcoal grates remove any bad tastes to provide fresh, clean, safe water. The system filters particles down to 15 microns in size.

The Water is Life straw has proven to be effective against waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, guinea worm and diarrhea, and each straw filters water for one person for up to an entire year.

However, the straws are just a short-term solution to those that need immediate assistance. 6,500 people – 5,000 of whom are children – die daily due to the lack of access to clean water. Water is Life distributes the straws as a temporary fix, while they work to develop long-term sustainable solutions like water wells, sand filters and other technology, combined with hygiene and sanitation assistance in each village.

If you would like to donate to Water is Life, you may do so directly on the website. Each straw costs $10. Volunteers may also get involved by hosting a fundraising event, or by joining a Water is Life team and traveling to distribute straws in Kenya, Ghana, Haiti and other countries.

Stay tuned to learn more about a special charity project that Filters Fast will be hosting in the coming months. In the meantime, promote the Water is Life cause to your friends by sharing this post on Facebook and Twitter!